Manchester United host Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday and it’s a fixture that holds happy memories for one striker now currently in the Greek Super League.
Back in the 2008-09 campaign, the Red Devils found themselves in a tremendous tussle to win the title with fierce rivals Liverpool heading into the final weeks of the campaign.
With nine games to go for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men, starting with the clash against Villa at Old Trafford, they found themselves two points adrift of the Reds, but with two games in hand.
However, things looked to be going off-script for Utd as they found themselves 2-1 down with 15 minutes remaining in the match.
Cristiano Ronaldo then restored parity, before Federico Macheda, a then 17-year-old striker on his debut, wrote his name into Old Trafford folklore.
The Italian had been a prolific scorer that term for the club’s under-18 side and his form was rewarded with a place on the bench against Villa.
Macheda was given the nod in the 61st minute, coming on ahead of future England international Danny Welbeck, and had the kind of professional debut players can only dream of.
The then teenager received the ball from Ryan Giggs, before turning to evade his marker and curling an effort into the back of the net to hand the Red Devils a vital win.
The victory saw Utd return to the top of the table with a one-point lead over Liverpool and crucially still with a game in hand.
After impressing on debut against Villa, Macheda would go on to repeat the trick the following weekend by netting the winner at Sunderland less than a minute after coming off the bench to main Utd’s slender advantage.
Such a promising start to his Red Devils career saw the Italian labelled hit with plenty of hype and the striker was never able to again reach the lofty heights of his first two games.
Macheda would score just a further two goals across his next 34 games in all competitions for the Old Trafford outfit before leaving in 2014 following a string of loan spells.
The attacker’s career has since taken in stints at Cardiff and Nottingham Forest in the Sky Bet Championship, as well as Novara in the Italian second tier, before arriving at Greek side Panathinaikos last summer.
Macheda looks like he might be getting back to his best with four goals in nine league games this term, including two in his last three.
But even if he is unable to fully realise his potential, Utd fans will always look back favourably on his debut against Villa in April 2009.
